“Winning this definitely helps with confidence,” Seymour said. “It’s a huge race, knowing you can beat girls all over the Northeast means a lot.”
Breaking the course record was even more special for Seymour, because one of her idols as a child was former record-holder Nicole Blood.
“[Getting the record] is unbelievable, because the person that held the record, [Blood], I really looked up to,” Seymour said. “To know my talent comes near to hers makes me feel really good.”
Lady Devils coach Randy Wilson saw a huge improvement from Seymour over last year’s performance in the event, in which she finished fifth.
“Last year she just survived to the finish,” Wilson said. “[This year] she ran her own race and basically tore the legs off the other girls in the race.”
Though she is pleased to have won the Invitational, Seymour has much higher goals for herself in the Footlocker Nationals, a nation-wide competition.
“I’m a really high goal-setter, so I’m going to go for the national championship.”
Along with Seymour’s individual improvement, Central Cambria jumped from 27th as a team last year to ninth in this year’s competition, with five Lady Devils finishing in the top 100.
Kelsey (51st) and Kendall (62nd) Seymour were the next highest finishers for Central Cambria, while Annie Sekada finished 93rd and Emily Wright finished in 99th.
“No one cares about anything except doing well as a team,” Wilson said. “[Carly] wants to win states as a team just as much as she wants to win states as an individual. The girls don’t want to let each other down.”
Fischer takes first at invite
STATE COLLEGE — Altoona’s Chris Fischer captured first place in the boys’ race of the State College Invitational by a second over Chambersburg’s David Eubanks, 16:21-16:22.
Altoona’s Jordan Liberman (16:51) took eighth, while Ryan Trexler (16:56) placed 10th. The Mountain Lions finished second in the team standings with 65 points. Chambersburg won with 31 points.
The Lady Lions also finished second with 53 points. State College won the team title with 23 points. Altoona’s Sasha Peterman (20:06) took fifth, while teammate Kelsey O’Brien (20:21) was ninth.
Runners from Hollidaysburg, Central and Williamsburg also participated in the event.
The Altoona boys’ junior varsity team won the team title. Altoona’s Wade Endress placed first in 17:44.
BOYS TEAM STANDINGS
1, Chambersburg, 31; 2, Altoona, 65; 3, State College, 71; 4, Indian Valley, 131; 5, Central Mountain, 142; 6, Punxsutawney, 167; 7, Somerset, 181; 8, Shikellamy, 183; 9, Central, 255; 10, Hollidaysburg, 285.
TOP 10 BOYS
1, Fischer, Altoona, 16:21; 2, Eubanks, Chambersburg, 16:22; 3, Wilt, Shanksville, 16:32; 4, Sick, Chambersburg; 5, Smith, Chambersburg; 6, Riccardo, Central Mountain, 16:43; 7, Liddick, Central Mountain, 16:48; 8, Liberman, Altoona, 16:51; 9, Ragen, State College, 16:55; 10, Trexler, Altoona, 16:56.
OTHER AREA RUNNERS IN TOP 50
21, Harf, Altoona, 17:23; 29, Lidwell, Altoona, 17:39; 32, Trujillo, Central, 17:44; 33, Gleim, Altoona, 17:44; 37, Sneed, Altoona, 17:50; 41, Conlon, Central, 18:04.
GIRLS TEAM STANDINGS
1, State College, 23l; 2, Altoona, 53; 3, Shikellamy, 104; 4, Somerset, 126; 5, Hollidaysburg, 131; 6, Central, 137; 7, Chambersburg, 152; 8, Indian Valley, 190.
TOP 10 GIRLS
1, Daly, Shikellamy, 19:28; 2, Schmidt, State College, 19:33; 3, Sofo, State College, 19:54; 4, Matter, Greenwood, 19:58; 5, Peterman, Altoona, 20:06; 6, Thor, State College, 20:09; 7, Cousins, State College, 20:15; 8, Stashko, State College; 9, O’Brien, Altoona, 20:21; 10, Hulsizer, Shikellamy, 20:22.
OTHER AREA RUNNERS IN TOP 50
12, Ott, Hollidaysburg, 20:34; 13, Hippo, Altoona, 20:45; 14, Oswald, Altoona, 20:49; 16, Wilt, Central, 21:05; 17, Ju. Hallinan, Altoona, 21:09; 18, Brooks, Williamsburg, 21:10; 20, Ja. Hullinan, Altoona, 21:18; 22, Dicken, Central, 21:20; 26, Herman, Hollidaysburg, 21:39; 27, Diehl, Altoona, 21:43; 28, Steward, Central, 21:44; 30, Biltz, Hollidaysburg, 21:56; 31, Biddle, Williamsburg, 21:57; 38, Beckstead, Hollidaysburg, 22:32; 42, Kurtz, Central, 23:05; 43, Bourne, Hollidaysburg, 23:08; 45, Hepner, Central, 23:13; 48, Moyer, Hollidaysburg, 23:27; 50, Olivieri, Central, 23:33.
